After Lord Tybrius took his leave, I began to gather the items required to make the journey to Orene, a town about an hour's drive from NYC. If I was to fight and truly embrace my warrior side, I needed help, and the only person I could think of was Jenny, who ran a shop just on the edge of Orene, near the Shimila Mountains.Jennifer was the fourth-generation owner of the store, and their family had been serving humans and supernatural beings for more than a hundred years. I had been frequenting Jenny's shop for the past 50 years, and during my time in Orene, had become very close with her mother and grandmother.I pushed open the wooden gate."Vicku, Vicku!" the parrot at the door greeted me warmly."It's Vicky," I heard a familiar voice from the back of the store call out. "I've taught you many times, Mr. Joe." She huffed and then smiled once she saw me. "Vicky, long time no see!"Jenny was a short brunette woman, around 50, who had a divine love for birds and a lack of patience for
*VICKY*One of the two men sitting in the smoking room had gray hair and looked to be about 50 years old, and his full muscles supported the collar of the suit. The other man, however, was the complete opposite. There was something different about them—a glow almost. Although he looked about the same age, he had much less hair, and his wrinkles intensified when he smiled in our direction.The two men rose to greet Markus as soon as they saw him, and they even considerately extinguished the cigars in their hands."Markus, it's wonderful to see you again," the first man began. "Thank you for having us featured in your gallery this evening. I know my grandfather would have dutifully appreciated it.""Oh, your grandfather was only one of my closest artist companions, Devin. It's the least I could do—especially with the talent that runs in those veins." Markus then turned to look at me. "The steel sculptures out in the entrance; they're only some of Devin's newest pieces. Beautifully create
*VICKY*There was no right or wrong in a relationship. There was only mutual accommodation, tolerance, and trust. However, as the saying goes, it's easier said than done and after establishing a relationship, it takes the willpower of both individuals to keep the momentum going.As is evident, I still had a lot to learn in this matter and I had never been slapped so hard in the face by reality, as I was now. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him helplessly."Leon…what're you doing here?" My voice was raspy and disjointed, and his name almost came out like a whisper."I'm sorry for just showing up…I didn't know when the exhibition ended, but I see now…" He looked around the space at the dimmed lights and the bare walls. "I won't take up much of your time, but I needed to talk to you." His eyes were focused on me, but darted to Markus the second he coughed. "I think I'll give you two some space…" Markus stated awkwardly. "Make sure you lock up?" He tossed me a set of key
*VICKY*Things had become desperately out of hand. As I stood in the middle of the darkened and desolate streets of Newtons City with Leon's hands wrapped around my waist and my lips moving in the same rhythm as his, I could feel the passion swelling inside of me. His scent was enveloping me, and I could tell by the grip on me that he could feel the immediate relaxation that this moment brought both of our souls.I pressed myself harder into him, pushing my lips into his and getting as close as possible. He returned my eagerness, moving his hand up to my face and holding it firmly in place as he held onto me, like I was never leaving him again.Then, the kisses slowed and he broke our connection briefly, only to lean back in and kiss my cheek, and my lips once more. My heart began to race again. "There is nothing I want more than this," he murmured against my mouth. "But we shouldn't really do this in the middle of the street. We might get charged with indecency." I stopped an
*VICKY*Had I heard him right? Was he actually asking me this? He kissed my neck, and breathed me in. The aroma of his heightened Blood Perfume and sex spun around us, and I was scared I had let my emotions get the better of me."W-what?" I asked, still high from the pleasure he was still giving me, mixed with pure surprise. "Bond with me," he repeated, this time through continued kisses.Even though it killed me to stop, I pulled myself away from him and turned to look at him. I didn't want the moment to end, but I needed to ensure that he knew what he was asking."Leon…" "Vicky, don't question it. I'm asking you…" His hand reached up to hold my face and I could see in his eyes just how serious he was. "I want this." "But if I do this…" I began. "Your whole life will change…you'll be granted eternal life, you'll have to come up with a new alias every hundred years…""None of that sounds so bad," he said, nuzzling himself into my neck. "Not now…but trust me, after your fir
*VICKY*The next evening, I stood in front of my bedroom mirror and gazed at myself. My pale skin contrasted beautifully against the navy blue evening gown Leon had purchased the day before. I topped it off with some long black earrings and a black clutch bag that I had thrifted in Newtons City as a 'just in case' accessory.I looked stunning; to the human eye, even moreso. But I couldn't stop thinking about the box lying in my living room from Markus. After opening it, I couldn't bring myself to move it. Instead of facing my problems head on, I decided to leave it and go about my daily tasks. Except, everytime I returned home, it was there, like a constant reminder of my past melding with my future.God, why now? Talk about ill timing. It was like a consistent reminder that Leon's life was in danger, and now that we were bonded, whoever was after him, would have even more incentive to attack. I needed to get to the bottom of it before it was too late—but there was still that part o
*LEON*I could remember watching romantic comedies with old girlfriends as a late teenager and even as a young adult in my twenties, thinking how absurd it was that a man or woman would give up their entire life—whether that be their well-paying job, their dreams, or their life of solitude—for that special someone. To me, it was a state of insanity. But now. Now here I sat, in my office, feeling entirely different than even a few days ago. I had given up my entire life for someone. I was bonded, and as I looked out my office door window, I smiled as I saw Vicky working away on some dish I had no doubt was incredible. The way she moved, with such purpose and confidence. It never ceased to amaze me. She never ceased to amaze me. To be honest, ever since we bonded…I had this overwhelming desire to take it a step further. She had told me that, eventually, I'd be granted eternal life. This prospect didn't scare me or intrigue me in the slightest, as it would most. But it did get me thi
*LEON*When the appointed time came, I arrived outside of a small shop. The sign attached was an old flip sign that read 'closed', but I knew better. I put a hand on the door and pressed it open. For some reason, I was very nervous, moving the journal in my hand to the other. I knew to anyone outside of myself that this looked shifty, but she wasn't telling me what was going on and clearly wasn't going to.Despite only knowing Vicky for a short period of time, I knew her, and now that we were bonded, that familiarity grew. I don't know how, but I could tell something was off, and I needed to figure it out. If I could help her in any way…"We're closed!" a voice bellowed. Two seconds later, it was accompanied by a short, elderly man with grey hair wearing a pair of glasses around his neck. "Oh, Leon, my boy. I thought you were a customer." "I'm not a customer?" I joked, approaching the wooden counter. "You've been visiting me every month since you were fresh out of high school.
*Leon*I knew Vicky had to leave at some point. Our sweet time together couldn't last forever, but I didn't expect that moment to come so quickly. Although I knew that moment was bound to come, and although I had prepared myself mentally, I still felt lost when it really happened. It seemed like something had been taken away from my heart, and it suddenly became empty.I was actually a particularly timid person who was afraid of loss. The more I remembered those beautiful times, I couldn't help how sad I felt because of them. But now there was no time for me to drown in such emotions. After Vicky left, I immediately arranged a flight and returned to New York in a hurry. After that night, Jaydan never appeared in the office again. I heard from Vicky that they were, in a sense, a similar kind.As a normal human being, I had become a minority instead.Now I felt that the answers to all those questions should be within my family. But with my current situation, not
*Vicky*I stepped forward and the members of the Elder's Church who'd been waiting on the sidelines draped me in a ritual robe. Afterwards they would then drive a long nail into my heart, which was stained with the blood of Lord Primogenitor, allowing me to maintain my strength while falling into slumber.Kristen pulled the switch next to my sculpture. The sculpture slowly descended, and a pure white coffin rose up. I stepped into the coffin, waiting for them to drive a long nail into my heart. If they could do it skillfully, I wouldn't feel the pain.I closed my eyes and waited for the moment to come. But at that moment, the entrance to the hall of the Sanctuary suddenly became noisy. It seemed someone had barged in."Silence! Don't you know where this place is? Don't disturb the slumber of Lord Primogenitor and the Kindreds!"Kristen tried to silence his men when the guards at the door came rushing in to report."Lord Tybirus, we have visitors.""Wh
*Vicky*I couldn't believe my eyes. The diary clearly recorded the process of the experiment done back then. I read every line of words on it attentively."We conducted experiments on the experimental subjects with a variety of drug combinations. The vast majority of reagents caused the direct death of the subjects. Only reagent No. 69 worked. The toxins in the blood of the subject were finally removed after repeated injections, and the subject was restored to its human identity. After follow-up investigations for half a year, the subject's mental condition was normal, and he was well integrated into society. This was really an exciting moment. After centuries of exploration, our research finally yielded results...""The most crucial formula for Reagent No. 69 is the Mist Lotus, the Holy Water, and..."The pages that recorded the key materials was blurred and unrecognizable at the bottom because of its age. What was the last constituent element?I was a little
*Vicky*I took a closer look and saw that it was the familiar face of a middle-aged man."How did you find me?""I followed your bat here."The Messenger pointed to the reconnaissance bat on his head. It was originally placed near my house in New York to be responsible for guarding. If there was something important, the Messenger could use blood to communicate directly with it and ask it to locate me.I put away my claws and looked upstairs. Leon hadn't woken up yet."If you have something to say, then hurry up and say it so you can leave already."My tone was a little anxious. Now that The Messenger had appeared here, there was a high probability that the Elder's Church already knew about what I'd done.The Messenger took out a letter inside a black envelope, on which was stamped a blood-red seal with a flame emblem. The moment I saw that emblem, I immediately understood what it meant."I'm sorry, my lord. Please return quickly. Before that
*Vicky*"Leon, we discussed this last time. Right now, the situation at hand isn't over. Even if we run away, they'll find us. I have to stay.""Alright then, I'll stay with you.""No, Leon, you still have things to do, and your mother wouldn't want to see you waste your life so casually.""You're wrong. During this period, I realized we were all caught in a misunderstanding. You and I always want to carry everything for each other, but we've never thought love is a matter of two people. No matter what happens, we need to face it together. Therefore, I won't leave today. We'll never be separated in the future."Leon grabbed my hand. I stared at the determined look in his eyes and finally let go of all my worries. I nodded."Okay…okay, just as you said, let's go to a new place and start over. No matter what happens, I won't leave you again."I leaned on his shoulder, the happiness sweeping away my exhaustion.Suddenly, a car hurried to the entranc
*Vicky*Arthur was afraid of death, and now he was so frightened by me that he couldn't say a word.Of course, I was happy to see him like this. I waved my right hand with First Snow and viciously pierced his other leg. In an instant, the freezing air sealed his whole leg. He howled loudly in pain, and now the unbeatable king of the underground was like a lost dog, unable to even escape."Laugh again. Go on, why did you stop?"I slowly slashed his clothes with my claws."No, don't do this! Please let me go!""Let you go? There should be many people who've begged you just like that, right? Have you spared them? You didn't even spare your own brother for the sake of profit, and you wantonly take innocent lives in order to gain your father's favor."Swish. I flicked my claws and tore a piece of flesh from his leg."Ahhh!"Painful screams echoed through the warehouse, but no one could come to his aid now."Do you remember the boy named Lou?
*Vicky*Men poured in endlessly from all around the containers and docks, forming what seemed to be an endless ocean of people. Despite that, I enjoyed the thrill of the kill. I didn't know how long it had been since I last had such a feeling.The crowd wouldn't stay a crowd for long though. After I killed a few people and created an opening, I flew to the window and used the echoes of the guns for the scout bats to find the snipers who were hidden and shooting at me. I appeared in front of them in an instant, and they, who had thought they were in a safe place, looked at me in surprise as I rushed towards them. The last scene they saw was me waving First Snow to take their heads off.I wandered in Shadow Form and appeared behind them silently, slicing their bodies one by one like cutting a watermelon, and after licking the blood from my lips, I began to get more excited.After cleaning up the borders of the place, I returned to the warehouse and found that the grou
*Vicky*I packed up my things, took First Snow with me, and changed into a track suit that was easy to move in.Tonight, everything would finally end. "Leon, if I come back alive, I'll be there to see you, and if I don't make it through the night, I want you to be happy and take Osip and go live somewhere where no one knows you."I took a deep breath, zipped up my backpack, and walked out of the room.Just as I was about to enter the shadows, Jaydan suddenly called out to me."Vicky! Vicky, wait a minute. Don't go yet!"He came running towards me, panting and looking a little panicked."Something's wrong. Leon's been taken!""What? How did this happen?""A large group of people, supposedly Arthur's men, came to the hotel today. They said they were there to take over the hotel business and forced me to hand over all my management access codes. I didn't give them up though, and found a chance to transform and escape.""Do you know where h
*Leon*"Are you wondering how we found out you were scheming something?" Conrad continued, "I know about everything you've done since you arrived here, including that smart-ass little tunnel of yours. Did you really think I didn't know? I knew about it before your mother passed away, and I left it there on purpose."Why? Why couldn't I read the thoughts of the people around me? Not just Conrad, but also Arthur and his subordinates—I couldn't read any of them. How was this possible? They couldn't have professionally trained everyone, could they?Conrad saw my puzzled expression and seemed extremely pleased."Hahaha! Well, well, well, curious as to why your little trick doesn't work anymore, aren't you?"He casually pulled one of his subordinates over and showed me the electronic bracelet on his wrist."This is a blocking bracelet, a small device recently developed by our scientists. When we wear it, we can truly become invisible. Even those alien creatures'